Traffic monitoring system and methods for traffic monitoring and route guidance useful therewith

Abstract

A traffic monitoring system for monitoring traffic including a population of users bearing a multiplicity of mobile communication devices, and methods useful for monitoring traffic, the system including a mobile communication network interface receiving, from at least one communication network serving the multiplicity of mobile communication devices, and storing, location information characterizing at least some of the multiplicity of mobile communication devices, and a traffic monitor operative to compute at least one traffic-characterizing parameter on the basis of the location information.

1 . A traffic monitoring system comprising: 
 traffic data collection apparatus operative to collect location data from a plurality of users of mobile communication devices; and    a traffic data filter operative to analyze said location data arriving from the plurality of users and to reject location data which is not traffic data.    
     
     
         2 . A system according to  claim 1  wherein said traffic data filter comprises a traffic element identifier operative to identify traffic elements within the plurality of users by analyzing the location data arriving from the plurality of users.  
     
     
         3 . A system according to  claim 1  wherein said location data comprises a sequence of at least one time-stamped locations.  
     
     
         4 . A system according to  claim 1  and wherein the traffic data filter is operative to accept, as traffic data, the location data arriving from users who have identified themselves as traffic elements.  
     
     
         5 . A traffic monitoring system comprising: 
 location collection apparatus operative to collect location data from at least a traffic population including a multiplicity of traffic elements, the multiplicity of traffic elements comprising a plurality of users of mobile communication devices;    a location data analyzer operative to analyze said location data and to derive traffic information therefrom; and    a traffic information disseminator operative to provide at least some of the traffic population with said traffic information.    
     
     
         6 . A system according to  claim 5  wherein said location data analyzer is operative to derive, for at least one traffic element, at least a portion of a road route followed by the traffic element.  
     
     
         7 . A system according to  claim 5  wherein the location data defining the location of a mobile communication device at time t is based on an identification of a mobile communication cell serving the mobile communication device at time t.  
     
     
         8 . A system according to  claim 5  wherein the location data defining the location of a mobile communication device at time t is based only on an identification of a mobile communication cell serving the mobile communication device at time t.  
     
     
         9 . A traffic monitoring method comprising: 
 collecting location data from a plurality of users of mobile communication devices; and    analyzing said location data arriving from the plurality of users and rejecting location data which is not traffic data.    
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 9  and also comprising rejecting location data indicating a too-large discrepancy between a current location of a vehicle and its stored previous locations.  
     
     
         11 . A system according to  claim 1  and also comprising a user location database storing, for each mobile communication device from which readings have been received, the ID of that device and each of the readings received, each with its own timestamp.  
     
     
         12 . A system according to  claim 1  and also comprising a road traffic database storing, for at least one road, velocity profiles computed for that road, each profile being stored with its own time-stamp.  
     
     
         13 . A traffic monitoring system for monitoring traffic comprising a population of users bearing a multiplicity of mobile communication devices, the system comprising: 
 a mobile communication network interface receiving, from at least one communication network serving the multiplicity of mobile communication devices, and storing, location information characterizing at least some of the multiplicity of mobile communication devices; and    a traffic monitor operative to compute at least one traffic-characterizing parameter on the basis of the location information.    
     
     
         14 . A system according to  claim 13  wherein the traffic monitor is also operative to display the at least one traffic-characterizing parameter.  
     
     
         15 . A system according to  claim 13  wherein the mobile communication devices comprise cellular communication devices served by at least one cellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations each serving a cell comprising a portion of a geographical area.  
     
     
         16 . A system according to  claim 13  wherein said location information comprises indications of cells serving at least some of the multiplicity of mobile communication devices.  
     
     
         17 . A system according to  claim 13  and also comprising a road database storing locations of roads in a geographical area.  
     
     
         18 . A system according to  claim 16  and also comprising a road database storing locations of roads in a geographical area, 
 wherein the traffic monitor is operative to deduce, based on at least one indication of a cell in which a mobile communication device is located, a road which the mobile communication device is believed to be taking.  
 
     
     
         19 . A system according to  claim 18  wherein the traffic monitor is operative, based on an indication that an individual mobile communication device is travelling through a cell sequence including at least one cell, to differentiate a first road portion along which the individual mobile communication device is travelling, from a second road portion falling along the same cell sequence, along which the mobile communication device is not travelling.  
     
     
         20 . A system according to  claim 19  wherein the traffic monitor is operative to differentiate the first and second road portions by estimating at least one traffic parameter for the first and second road portions which parameter has different values for the first and second road portions.  
     
     
         21 . A system according to  claim 16  wherein at least some traffic characterizing information is generated using communication cell ID-based location information which is at communication cell ID accuracy.  
     
     
         22 . A system according to  claim 16  wherein the traffic monitor is operative to identify a set of mobile communication devices suspected of be served by a cell other than the cell in which they are actually located and to verify at least some location information arriving from at least some of the mobile communication devices in said set.  
     
     
         23 . A system according to  claim 13  wherein said at least one traffic-characterizing parameter comprises at least one of the following group of parameters: 
 a travel time parameter;  
 a traffic speed parameter;  
 a traffic density parameter; and  
 a traffic flow parameter.  
 
     
     
         24 . A system according to  claim 13  and also including at least one historical database storing historical location information characterizing past distributions of users over a geographical area of interest, and wherein the traffic monitor is, at least on occasion, operative to compute the at least one traffic-characterizing parameter at least partly on the basis of the historical location information.  
     
     
         25 . A system according to  claim 24  wherein the traffic monitor is operative to evaluate the quality of location information on the basis of which the traffic-characterizing parameter is to be computed and to employ the historical location information if said quality is found to be relatively low.  
     
     
         26 . A system according to  claim 25  wherein the quality of location information is evaluated at least partly as a function of the number of users providing current location information.  
     
     
         27 . A system according to  claim 15  wherein the mobile communication network interface receives and stores location information from cellular communication devices served by more than one cellular communication network.  
     
     
         28 . A system according to  claim 21  and also comprising a mobile user pinpointing function operative to deduce, from information at communication cell ID accuracy, location information which is at an accuracy higher than communication cell ID accuracy, by combining the communication cell ID accuracy information with additional stored information.  
     
     
         29 . A system according to  claim 28  wherein said additional stored information comprises information regarding intersections between cells and roads.  
     
     
         30 . A system according to  claim 28  wherein said additional stored information comprises information regarding-a sequence of cells through which a user has passed.  
     
     
         31 . A system according to  claim 13  wherein the mobile communication network interface receives at least some of the location information used by the traffic monitor, from a base station.  
     
     
         32 . A system according to  claim 13  wherein the mobile communication network interface receives at least some of the location information used by the traffic monitor, from a CDR database.  
     
     
         33 . A system according to  claim 13  wherein the mobile communication network interface receives at least some of the location information used by the traffic monitor, from a location server.  
     
     
         34 . A system according to  claim 13  wherein the mobile communication network interface receives at least some of the location information used by the traffic monitor, directly from at least some of the multiplicity of mobile communication devices.  
     
     
         35 . A system according to  claim 34  wherein at least some of the location information is provided responsive to a cell broadcast.  
     
     
         36 . A system according to  claim 34  wherein at least some of the location information is provided responsive to a data transmission directed to individual ones of the multiplicity of mobile communication devices.  
     
     
         37 . A system according to  claim 36  wherein the data transmission comprises an SMS message.  
     
     
         38 . A system according to  claim 34  wherein at least some of the location information provided by the mobile communication devices is provided in SMS format.  
     
     
         39 . A system according to  claim 13  wherein the mobile communication network interface also receives and stores travel time information and said traffic monitor is operative to compute at least one traffic-characterizing parameters on the basis of at least the travel time information.  
     
     
         40 . A system according to  claim 13  wherein the location information does not violate the privacy of the users of the mobile communication devices.  
     
     
         41 . A system according to  claim 24  and also comprising a congestion detector operative to detect at least one of generation and dissipation of mobile communication device congestion.  
     
     
         42 . A system according to  claim 41  and also comprising a congestion-anticipation based cellular network resource allocator operative to receive a congestion-indicative output from the congestion detector and to allocate resources accordingly.  
     
     
         43 . A route guidance method comprising: 
 monitoring traffic information characterizing traffic flowing along at least one routes; and    computing and reporting to a traveller, information characterizing the traveller's expected travel time along each of the at least one routes.    
     
     
         44 . A method according to  claim 43  and also comprising providing an origin location and a destination location and computing at least one routes connecting said origin and destination locations.  
     
     
         45 . A method according to  claim 43  and wherein said computing step comprises recomputing, at least once, information characterizing the traveller's remaining travel time along the route, as the traveller travels along the route.  
     
     
         46 . A method according to  claim 43  wherein the computing and reporting step comprises reporting said information to the traveller only if the information deviates, in accordance with a predetermined deviation criterion, from a known travel time value.  
     
     
         47 . A route guidance method comprising: 
 monitoring the speed of traffic flowing through a geographical area; and    generating a warning if there is a substantial change in the speed of traffic flowing through a portion of the geographical area.    
     
     
         48 . A method according to  claim 43  and also comprising storing information regarding personal driving habits of the traveller and wherein the computing and reporting step comprises computing the information characterizing the traveller's expected travel time at least partly based on the information regarding the traveller's personal driving habits.  
     
     
         49 . A method according to  claim 48  wherein said information regarding personal driving habits comprises information characterizing travel time along a road sequence not monitored in said monitoring step.  
     
     
         50 . A method according to  claim 43  wherein said computing and reporting step comprises reporting to the driver in IVR (interactive voice response) format.  
     
     
         51 . A method according to  claim 43  wherein said computing- and reporting step comprises reporting to the driver in a data transmission format.  
     
     
         52 . A method according to  claim 51  wherein said data transmission format comprises SMS (short message service).  
     
     
         53 . A method according to  claim 51  wherein said data transmission format comprises WAP (wireless application protocol) format.  
     
     
         54 . A method according to  claim 44  wherein the origin and destination locations are received from the driver.  
     
     
         55 . A method according to  claim 44  wherein the providing step comprises setting the origin of the route to the current location of the driver.  
     
     
         56 . A method according to  claim 55  wherein monitoring the current location of the driver is based on determining a cellular location of a mobile communication device riding with the driver.  
     
     
         57 . A route guidance method comprising: 
 monitoring traffic information characterizing traffic flowing along a route taken by a driver, including monitoring the current location of the driver; and    computing information characterizing the driver's expected progress along the route and reporting said information to the driver when the driver arrives at a predetermined location along the route.    
     
     
         58 . A directed advertisement method comprising: 
 receiving an indication from a travelling user of his desired destination; and    providing advertisement content to the travelling user based on the desired destination.    
     
     
         59 . A method according to  claim 58  and wherein said advertisement providing step comprises: 
 computing a recommended route to the desired destination and reporting the recommended route to the travelling user; and  
 providing advertisement content to the travelling user which pertains to the recommended route.  
 
     
     
         60 . A system according to  claim 7  wherein said identification of a mobile communication cell comprises at least one of the following identification information elements: 
 an ID of the cell;  
 a cell sector; and  
 a time advance parameter characterizing communication between the mobile communication device and the cell's base station.  
 
     
     
         61 . A system according to  claim 24  wherein said historical location information comprises historical traffic information comprising at least one traffic parameter characterizing at least one road segment for at least one point of time in the past.  
     
     
         62 . A system according to  claim 30  wherein said information regarding a sequence comprises a time-stamped identification of at least one pair of adjacent cells between which the user has passed.  
     
     
         63 . A system according to  claim 13  wherein the mobile communication network interface receives at least some of the location information used by the traffic monitor, from a cellular switch.  
     
     
         64 . A system according to  claim 41  wherein said congestion detector employs said historical location information to anticipate future locations of mobile communication devices.  
     
     
         65 . A method according to  claim 43  wherein at least one routes comprise a plurality of routes joining a single origin to a single destination.  
     
     
         66 . A method according to  claim 46  wherein the deviation criterion comprises deeming as a travel time deviation, an increase in travel time over a route which affects the relative attractiveness of the route relative to at least one alternative route.  
     
     
         67 . A system according to  claim 13  wherein said traffic monitor is also operative to receive speed data derived from a change in at least one parameter characterizing communication between at least one mobile communication device and a base station serving it and to compute at least one traffic-characterizing parameter at least partly based on said speed data.  
     
     
         68 . A system according to  claim 67  wherein said parameter comprises communication frequency.  
     
     
         69 . A system according to  claim 67  wherein said parameter comprises rate of data transfer.